'Bowstring' girder bridge Kingsey, Buckinghamshire

L3326. This photograph shows the construction of the large 'bowstring' girder bridge that carried the main road over the Great Western & Great Central Joint line at Kingsey, Buckinghamshire. This type of bridge was well used on the Great Central's routes into London, with examples also being found in Nottingham and Leicester. In this photograph, taken from the bridge deck, a gang of navvies are at work riveting the lattice girders that make up the bridge parapets. Many of the men hold hammers used for hitting the rivets, and there are also two small portable furnaces present for heating the rivets to a malleable temperature. In the centre of the image is a light section of contractors railway with a small hand crane on it. This was used for moving the heavy metalwork into place.